Housatonic’s Teagan Lynch battles Nonnewaug’s Azria Malloy during Berkshire League girls soccer action on Tuesday in Woodbury. Malloy scored with six minutes to play to rally the Chiefs to a 2-1 victory. (Palladino/RA)
By JOE PALLADINO
WOODBURY
Azria Malloy scored with less than six minutes to play to rally Nonnewaug to a 2-1 victory over Housatonic Valley on Tuesday at Nonnewaug.
The victory put the Chiefs in command of the Berkshire League girls soccer race. Nonnewaug now owns an 11-0-1 record, and the BL’s two title defenders, Housy (9-3) and Lewis Mills (9-2 entering the day) now have precious little time to catch the Chiefs.
“This team is hungry,” said Nonnewaug senior captain Christina Sordi, who had a goal and an assist Tuesday. “We work hard in practice, we want the title, we see it, and we’re going for it.”
The Mountaineers played once again without their star striker, senior Lauren Segalla. She was not dressed for the game. Segalla said it was not a new injury, and not the old injury (right knee surgery). All she would say is that she needs “some quad work,” as she tapped her right leg.
Housy did not play like it was minus a star. The Mountaineers were dead even with Nonnewaug on chances in the first half, but the Chiefs held a 1-0 lead at the break when Sordi finished off a deft back-pass from Mary Bibbey.
Half two was all Nonnewaug, as in all, all Nonnewaug. That is, until Housy scored a stunner with 10 minutes to play. The Chiefs defense backed in on keeper Jennifer Charette (six saves), and Housy midfielder Josie Horosky took the space and scored a wonder goal into the top corner to tie the game.
“Well, I think we were playing for Lauren,” Horosky said about the missing Housy star, plus other injured players. “We really came as a team, together. I don’t think we could have done anything more. We put our hearts out there.”
If Nonnewaug felt that its romp to the title was in jeopardy, especially after a tie to Northwestern in its previous game, Malloy came to the rescue just four minutes after Housy tied it.
The play was started by Sordi. She sent Malloy clear down the left wing, and the sophomore winger picked her spot, low, far post.
“It was a great pass to begin with,” Malloy said. “Their goalkeeper (Molly Dowd, 11 saves) was amazing. She blocked a lot of great shots. Because it was on my left foot, I had to put it on the ground and take advantage of where she was in goal.”
Sordi said that Nonnewaug’s resilience can be traced to that tie last week in Barkhamsted.
“The bus ride home was not very fun,” she said. “We did not want to be complacent with that. The minute they scored, we came back harder. We had urgency. And immediately, another goal followed.”